Opposites Attract ↑↓ NorRay (TEMPORARY HIATUS)

It's Not Pity

Ray's pov, 4:30 p.m.

Dad lied to me about mom? Wow, how typical of him. "He said that you were getting better. He said you were doing fine." I murmured.

"Ray, what are you talking about, honey?" Mom asked, I ignored her. "That little lying bitch!" I yelled, my eyes welling with tears. I put my head back to stop myself from crying.

It didn't work, tears rolled down my face, but I made sure to keep silent. "Ray I-" I cut Norman off. "Shut up, just leave me alone!" I yelled, shooting him a glare. He looked at me with what looked like pity.

"Don't pity me, okay? I'm weak, and I can't get any better at life if everyone just talks to me because of pity, sure, my mom may be dying, and I may have no friends, but I don't need you or your pity, so just leave me alone!" I continued to yell. "Ray!" He yelled back.

"What do you want, Norman?!" I yelled, my entire body turning to face him. "It's not pity, it's just that you're a likeable person, no matter how ignorant or clueless you are." He said in a clear voice. I looked at him with pure shock.

"And before you say that you're not likeable, Ray. Out of all the 307 other kids in our school, I was drawn to you. I chased you through a grocery store, I wanted to be friends so bad!" He laughed as he finished the last sentence. I looked away from him, trying to hide my small smile.

"I begged to come here with you, even after I found out you were just going to the hospital." He continued. "Cause you're a weirdo." I added. He smiled at me.

"And Ray, you're not weak, you just need to get used to how things are now." Mom cut in. I looked at her. "Mom, did you tell Dad to lie to me about you? Because if you did, it wouldn't make sense if you were just going to tell me anyway."

"No, but did he lie to you about my illness?" She asked. I nodded, and she looked mad about it. "Alright, when you get home, tell him that you came to visit me after school and that I said that I want a divorce filed as soon as possible." She said with a straight, serious face.

I was trying not to smile. "Hell, I don't know why you didn't get a divorce filed when all this fucking abuse started." I said, leaning against the wall. I know Norman was still there, but I didn't care. If he really wants to be my friend, he won't tell anyone about what he's hearing right now.

"Watch your language, Ray. I'm still your mother." Mom snapped at me. I hummed in response and tossed Norman my headphones so he can use them until we leave.

"What do you want me to do with these?" He asked, confused. "Use them until we leave so you don't have to listen to me talk, dumbas- idiot." I said, giving him a look that says "You dumb fuck" as he looked at me, slowly processing my words. He replied with a hum and smiled awkwardly at me.

Norman POV, 5:09 p.m.

I pulled out my phone and texted my dad. I said, "Hey dad, I'm staying with a friend for probably a couple hours. One and a half. Maybe two hours. It depends. Anyway, see you later."

Then I plugged the headphones into my phone and put them in my ears, playing some music. I sat down against the wall and closed my eyes, relaxing to the song that was playing. After a few minutes, I started to nod off, getting extremely tired.

I fought it for a few minutes, and then played a more upbeat song to try and stay wide awake. It worked, and I stayed listening to music similar to the song.

A few more minutes passed, but it was what felt like hours. I exited out of Spotify, the music stopping, and took the headphones out of my ears, as well as unplugging them. "I promise that after you die, that I'm going to learn how to live on my own in a comfortable environment, and I'm going to make friends, and be happier with my life! I won't push people away like I do now, and I'll be better, and I'll go to therapy, I'll take care of myself, and I'll make you proud, even if you're not here, mom." Ray pledged to his Mother, smiling a sad smile.